Direct Deflection of Particle Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method for directly detecting light particle dark matter by using time-varying fields to distort dark matter flow and measuring these effects with resonant detectors, covering a broad mass range.

Contribution

It presents a new detection strategy for light dark matter with long-range interactions, extending the mass range accessible beyond current experiments.

Findings

Can probe dark matter masses from 10 MeV to below 1 meV.

Effective for particles with small electric charges or light mediators.

Extends detection capabilities beyond existing methods.

Abstract

We propose a new strategy to directly detect light particle dark matter that has long-ranged interactions with ordinary matter. The approach involves distorting the local flow of dark matter with time-varying fields and measuring these distortions with shielded resonant detectors. We apply this idea to sub-MeV dark matter particles with very small electric charges or coupled to a light vector mediator, including the freeze-in parameter space targeted by low mass direct detection efforts. This approach can probe dark matter masses ranging from 10 MeV to below a meV, extending beyond the capabilities of existing and proposed direct detection experiments.